Underage drinking

 

‘Dad, can I ask you a question?’

‘Of course. What’s up?’

‘Does Grandad hate me?’



‘…Why, love? What’s happened?’

‘Tristan said I can’t go to his house because Grandad said it’s an alien free zone.’

‘Oh…’



‘And Tristan thought it might be too dangerous for me to go, but I don’t get why…’

‘…Charon… between you and me, it doesn’t matter what Grandad thinks, okay?’

‘Is it bad to be an alien?’



‘No! It’s not bad at all! There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect the way you are, alright? Please don’t think it’s bad to be an alien.’

‘But sometimes other people look at me funny too.’

‘It’s because they’re not used to you… Aliens are very rare. It just takes them by surprise.’



‘Why am I the only alien here? Why aren’t I a human like you?’

‘Well… like I told you, the aliens gave you to me. They made you and put you in my tummy to grow. And you know the rest…’

‘…How did they make me? How do they make babies?’



‘……….That’s a question for another day, I think. I’ll explain that one to you another time.’

‘Oh, okay.’

‘But listen… Don’t go telling the triplets, but Grandad doesn’t really like me either. It’s his problem, not ours. Anyone who matters… accepts you for who you are. You don’t have to change to please anyone else. And some things, you can’t change. Like being an alien.’

‘Alright.’

‘Tell me if anyone else says anything rude to you, okay? I won’t let you be picked on.’



‘I will.’

‘Good…’




‘So you’re absolutely sure this place will serve us?’

‘Oh yeah. I’ve been here before with my mum. They don’t give a shit.’



‘Your mum took you out for underage drinking?’



‘…What can I say, she’s not the most responsible person in the world.’



‘It’ll be fine. We’ve done this before. Unless you’re really not up for it. We don’t have to go.’



‘Oh, it’s fine. Gotta live a little now and then.’



‘No, I’m not opposed or anything… though I really hope we don’t get caught.’



‘Relax. We’ll be okay. If they really cared, they’d have done something long ago. Anyway, it’ll be dead at this time. It’s too early for the drunks.’

‘Are you here a lot?’

‘Nah, not that often. Don’t have the money, for one…’








‘Raya? What’re you doing here?’



‘Oh, shit… I, um, didn’t think you liked it here.’

‘I don’t. It’s just cheap. What’s your excuse?’

‘Um…’



‘…Taking advantage of the Old Horse’s very loose policies?’



‘That was the idea, yeah… Sorry! We didn’t mean to lead your sister astray…’

‘Nah, I’m sure Raya has plenty of her own agency… Right?’

‘It was our idea, though…’



‘No, it’s fine, Heath. She’s right, I did make a choice. Um, please don’t tell Edward…’



‘Hey, I’m not gonna grass you up. What do you think I am?’

‘But I shouldn’t be here.’

‘Well, I’m here, so how much trouble can you get into?’



‘You get into trouble on your own, though…’

‘…I guess, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, you can stay. You can have one drink, but after that, switch to soft drinks, okay?’

‘I will. Thanks!’

‘The rest of you do what you want. I’m not your mums.’



‘Thanks for being cool about it!’



‘It’s fine. I’ve no idea where she’d get the idea I’d shop her. I wouldn’t do that. If it were one of our seven-year-old siblings, then that’d be a different story…’



‘They start younger and younger these days, huh?’

‘Not that young, I hope.’




‘Well, that could’ve gone a lot worse. Your sister seems nice.’

‘She is. She looks out for me. She can be a bit intense, but… it’s all good.’

‘So, who’s Edward anyway?’

‘Oh, he’s our uncle… He definitely wouldn’t approve of me drinking.’

‘Why him, and not your dad?’

‘…This has to be a secret, okay?’



‘Sure.’

‘Yeah, I won’t tell.’



‘I don’t live with my dad. I live with my older siblings and my uncle.’



‘Oh. Why?’

‘It’s better for everyone… we don’t exactly get along.’

‘What about your mum?’



‘She’s dead.’

‘Shit. Sorry to hear that.’

‘It’s fine…’



‘Sorry, we fucked up, didn’t we? First we nearly get you into trouble, not we’ve gone and brought up a touchy subject. Let’s talk about something else.’



‘…I’m just making it awkward by being here, aren’t I? You guys have been really nice to me, but I’m just dragging the mood down. I should probably go.’



‘Hey, no! Don’t go. I know I’ve had fun. First swimming, then coming out for drinks. It’s been a nice day.’

‘But I’m just not as cool as any of you.’

‘What, for real?’



‘You think I’m cool? Wow, that’d be a first!’



‘Yeah, what he said. And I don’t just mean him, either. You know we’re not that great, right? People just tend to think of us as the “emo kids”, which isn’t even accurate, but if you’re slightly alternative you’ll get labelled that way. What I mean is, we’re hardly all that.’



‘Exactly. If we were in some kind of teen movie, we’d definitely be considered the nerdy losers!’



‘Besides, this is like the most daring thing we’ll ever do. It’s not like we take drugs or anything — can’t stand the stuff, personally.’



‘I just feel like I bring down the mood. Especially when my shitty home life comes up. I think it’s pretty easy to work out from what I’ve said that it’s a big mess.’

‘Hey… you’re not the only one with a shitty home life. You live with your uncle and your mum’s no longer around, well, I don’t even know who my real dad is. And my mum and stepdad aren’t exactly great either. Some of us just put on a brave face over it by making crap jokes. So… Sometimes it’s just false confidence.’



‘Yeah, my dad fucked off years ago. I’m not gonna use my mum as an example of a bad home life ‘cos there’s nothing wrong with her, but families come in all shapes and sizes, right?’



‘Well, I’ve been seeing a therapist, and it kinda became clear that all my… home situation stuff… left me without much confidence. Not like getting burned in a fire helped at all.’



‘But how many people can say they’ve survived a fire? I think that’s pretty badass, to be honest.’

‘You do…?’

‘Hell yeah! You’re a lot cooler than you think.’



‘Anyway, if you were that boring, do you think I’d waste my time hanging out with you? Free time’s precious, y’know? We would’ve already ditched your ass.’



‘That makes sense… thanks, guys.’

Autumn festival

‘A week is pretty fuckin’ good, though.’

‘No, I haven’t made it this far in quite some time.’

‘How do you feel?’



‘The worst of the physical symptoms are wearing off. I still want to drink, but I’m not going to. I can’t, anyway, I made them hide my wallet.’

‘Wow. When’re you gonna ask for it back?’

‘Not just yet. They’ve just been giving the odd bit of money for taxis to get to my appointments… and watching to make sure I get in them, if they’ve been around. Yes, it’s that bad. I just didn’t trust myself at first.’



‘Well, I think you’re doin’ great.’

‘Thank you. I think I’ve surprised myself. I didn’t have a lot of faith in myself.’

‘Good job the rest of us got faith in you, then.’



‘I certainly can’t do it alone. So how are you coping without me?’

‘Oh, I’m fine. I still got my old friends. Anyway, you ain’t missin’ much… you can save your energy for goin’ to actual nice places instead of, y’know, shitty pubs.’

‘The problem is that alcohol really is everywhere. I can’t avoid the stuff. I can choose not to visit bars and pubs, but it’ll limit where I really can go. And it’s bloody everywhere in advertising, too.’



‘…Guess you could go to kids’ places?’



‘Yes, I’ll just take my youngest niece and nephews out, that’ll be nice… or it would be, if Tate didn’t consider me a “threat.”’

‘Pfft, a threat to what? His reputation?’

‘Exactly. Oh well, there’s still Charon. May as well make the most of him being little. It’s not like I’ll get to have my own children.’



‘Hey, you never know. Men stay fertile a long time.’

‘There are a lot of issues with that idea, but instead I’m just going to pretend I never mentioned it.’

‘Aww. C’mon. You don’t gotta give up on the idea.’



‘It’s not even in question. It’s not the end of the world, anyway. I’d rather just focus on getting better, and appreciating being back with Ellis, Aria and Saraya.’

‘Sure, I get it. I just think you’d make a great dad. You already do.’

‘I’m grateful for getting a second chance at all, honestly.’



‘Well you deserve it, ‘cos ain’t none of what happened to you was your fault.’

‘I know that. But I’m still embarrassed that I ended up sinking so low.’

‘You didn’t make a choice to be like that. You got an illness, and the fact that you took charge in the first place and went and asked for help is a brave thing to do. Even when stoppin’ is makin’ you sick, and even though it’s gonna be a long road.’

‘Thank you, Stanley. I’ll try to hang onto that.’




‘Why can’t we go to your house any more?’



‘Dad doesn’t want you to.’

‘But why?’

‘Because he-’



‘Because he’s a prick.’



‘Hey, no he’s not! Why are you so rude about him?’

‘Yeah, Ari, that’s not a nice thing to say!’



‘Fine, fine. Sorry.’



‘…I was going to say, because he doesn’t like Uncle Edward.’



‘Oh. But he seemed nice.’



‘He is nice. They just don’t get along, for totally-not-one-sided reasons. Completely mutual, blame on both sides, etc etc.’



‘But why can’t I come to your place, either? I’ve never been to your new house.’



‘Father said it’s an alien-free zone.’

‘…But that’s not very nice either.’

‘Yeah, I dunno why. Maybe it’s dangerous? Maybe you’ll melt if you come to our house. What if it’s toxic to aliens? That might be it.’



‘Oh. I don’t wanna melt.’



‘Yeah, but look on the bright side, at least you can still play together! At school, or out… Anyway, why don’t we go in the haunted house, or something?’



‘Oh no, I don’t wanna go in the haunted house… it’s too scary.’



‘Well I’m not scared! I’ll go in. I’m not a baby like Zeus.’

‘Shut up! I’m not a baby!’



‘Oh Christ, kids. I’ll stay outside with Zeus, okay? Aria can take you in.’

‘Yeah, I’ll lead the way.’



‘You’re coming in with us?’

‘You think I’m letting you three go in there on your own? I might never get you back!’





‘I’m okay with Tristan not coming back.’

‘Your mum probably isn’t, though.’

‘Yeah… you don’t think I’m a baby, do you?’

‘Of course not. We brought you here to have fun. It doesn’t matter if you find something too scary.’


Later…




‘So where do you get your optimism?’

‘I don’t know. I just didn’t wanna upset them by mentioning racism…’

‘Yeah, I get you. I wouldn’t wanna hurt Charon’s feelings like that.’



‘Besides, we don’t want to turn the triplets against Tate. It’s safer for them if they still like him, and he can’t accuse us of manipulating them, either.’

‘You’re right. They’re only seven. I shouldn’t keep making comments like that. They deserve to stay innocent and oblivious for as long as possible. Anyway, how’s school going?’

‘Oh, better than I expected. I found a group to sit with.’



‘That’s great! Who are they?’

‘They’re in a band. Logan, Heath and Ivy. They’re nice, but I still feel like a bit of a hanger on.’

‘Aww, well, I’m sure you’ll get used to them! Maybe you should ask if they want to go to the arcade, or the cinema, or something.’



‘I could do…’

‘Go for it! Go on, live like a normal teenager for once. You’re always working so hard, whether it’s school or babysitting or cooking. Do something fun, Raya. You’ve earned it.’

‘Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Ari.’



‘I won!’



‘Well done!’